Study: Big breakfast could help manage type 2 diabetes

"This relatively simple diet approach enhances satiety and leads to better glycemic outcomes compared to a more conventional dietary approach," said the authors of a study purporting that a eating a protein- and fat-rich breakfast could help manage type 2 diabetes.

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Obesity and type 2 diabetes, Role of breakfast

It’s no secret that incidence of being overweight and obese have increased dramatically over the past few decades alongside a rise in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Concurrent with this, eating breakfast has declined overall.

According to a study published in the journal Obesity, a large breakfast enriched with protein and fat may impact body weight and lead to long-term glycemic control in overweight/obese individuals with type 2 diabetes, possibly proving to be a useful alternative for the management of type 2 diabetes.

Given that various cross-sectional studies examining skipping versus eating breakfast as well as the effect of different breakfast sizes and composition have returned mixed results, the researchers sought to find out how changes in breakfast size and composition affected body weight and metabolic outcomes.

For the randomized, treatment-controlled, open clinical trial, the researchers compared the effects of two isocaloric dietary interventions with different breakfast size and composition over a three-month period on body weight, glycemic control, and its association with metabolic markers in on 59 obese/overweight participants (21 men) with T2DM.

One group ate a big breakfast (providing 33% of total daily energy), rich in fat and protein, and the other ate a small breakfast (12.5% total daily energy) rich in carbohydrates.

Moreover, type 2 diabetes medication dose was reduced in a greater proportion of the big breakfast participants (31% vs. 0%; p = 0.002) while in the small breakfast group, a greater proportion of participants had a dose increases (16.7% vs. 3.4%; p = 0.002). Hunger scores were also lower in the big breakfast group and greater improvements in fasting glucose were observed in the big breakfast group.

Further research is required to confirm and clarify the mechanisms by which this relatively simple diet approach enhances satiety, leads to better glycemic outcomes compared to a more conventional dietary approach,” the authors concluded.

It’s no secret that incidence of being overweight and obese have increased dramatically over the past few decades alongside a rise in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Concurrent with this, eating breakfast has declined overall.